Cowboy Bebop Second Season
by Uliczka
Summary: Spike didn't die but didn't come back on Bebop, deciding not to cause them further problems. After two months Jet and Faye are hunting an organ dealer, the same as bored Spike. Their meeting is unavoidable, isn't it? Then, the girl appears. She WILL cause
1. Prologue ::Nine lives of a cat::

Disclaimer: This fanfic is nothing more than some kind of tribute for the CB. It's full of flashbacks, some de ja vu even. It's on purpose. It is supposed to be some repeat and a new story in the same way. Anyway, enjoy it. See you at the jazz corner of the world, space cowboys (yeah, I know someone else said that, but I like it so much…)

**„Cowboy Bebop"**

**Second season**

By Uliczka

****

**Prologue**

_Nine lives of a cat_

****

He didn't come back. Neither that day, nor next day, nor any other day. He just didn't come back. Faye had been crying. At the beginning she wanted to hide it from Jet. She was embarrassed for her tears. But he did saw them. He didn't say anything because he couldn't help her.

Then Faye just disappeared. Without a word of explanation she flew her Redtail on Mars where she spent whole night in some ill-famed casino, sitting with next and next glasses of whisky with ice. After several hours of gloomy sitting and winning with fortuitous, naïve people in poker, dices or any other game, she finally came back on Bebop. Jet was waiting for her. And he didn't ask about anything.

After all Faye stopped crying. She stayed with Jet on the ship. In spite of everything she hadn't got any other home.

*

Blood. His exhausted senses once again were recording, noting those last hours, minutes, seconds of fight. Bang. First, second. Dead people, bloody corpses lying on the floors. Red Dragons. Dead dragons. Doors to the last floor, apogee of his dream. Bang.  "Julia is dead" "We must finish that". Those harsh words. Pain. Cold flash of blade of the sword. Blood. Rasp of gun's steel rubbing against sharp edge of sword. Bang. Blood. Pain. Blue sky over people's heads. And yet, darkness…

*

Dazzling, almost blinding light. And dark, not clear contour of chubby, probably man's figure inclined over him. Little, inconsiderable twinge. Man opened with great exertion his eyes. His right eye itched horribly. Artificial eye. He tried to move his hand, but he couldn't do that. He was too weak.

He was alive. Still alive.

"You woke up" he heard deep, sympathetic, quite sure man's voice.  He opened eyes a little more widely. He saw grey-haired, heavy guy in white, a bit dirty now doctor's suit, with stethoscope over neck.

"I… am… alive…" he whispered almost inaudibly, na tyle, na ile pozwoli³y mu popêkane, obola³e i spierzchniête wargi. He felt pain in practically every inch of injured body.

"Yeah, sure! I thought, you know, that you're not gonna make it, you really got bad damage. But, you know, I did it some way. You've got some synthetic stuff in arm but from what I noticed, it'd not, you know, your first bump."

Man looked sadly at the yellowed, crossed by cracks ceiling.

_Why cannot I die?…_

"It isn't" he agreed quietly. He was extremely tired, like he would just wake up from a horrific nightmare.

The ceiling was definitely ugly. So characteristic for that kind of country hospital. He saw once a ceiling like that.

"What's your name? I must write something in card"

Man softly closed eyes. He badly wanted to smoke. But he couldn't move his hand. Not yet.

"Spike Spiegel"

YOU'LL HAVE TO CARRY THAT WEIGHT…

(A/N: forgive me language mistakes. I'm Polish, I'd like very much to know English more. I just hope there is not many of them. And hope you like it. There will be next chapter, I just have to finish translating it. See ya! - Uliczka)


	2. Session One ::Sounds like Jazz again::

**Session One**

_Sound like jazz again_

****

It was raining on Mars. Big drops fell on the ground, marking it with dark blots. Gary Collins looked up to the sky. Dark clouds were moving on the sky over the city.

He looked around. People started to get and open colourful umbrellas. There were very much people on the street. Happy, laughing, talking. Old and young. Different.

Garry walked forward. After all, you cannot endlessly stand at middle of the street. 

*

…Darkness. Darkness was the thing, which surrounded her for so long. Sometimes she had been seeing it, sometimes not. But she had always known that it's there. As long as she remembered. Darkness was familiar for her. Fascinating. It gave her feeling of safety. It was one of few things she could name. Sometimes in the darkness appeared personas, things. Faces of people she couldn't remember. Perhaps she knew them.

Darkness. Only this she knew perfectly.

In the darkness appeared a little light.

*

Being in hospital Spike had very long time for thinking. Sometimes he used to sit in filthy balcony with look for dirty, small and trashed back-yard, light a cigarette phlegmatically and think. About Julia. About Vicious. On the back-yard there must have been living someone, who played a saxophone. One could hear soft, jazz tones of music.

Julia.

He discovered that it's no more important for him. They were dead. He just the opposite, was alive. Once again he's passed through his own death.

Julia knew that, he supposed. At that time when he stayed, when he didn't want to escape with her. Then he understood that there are things more important than her. Was the revenge more important?

There are things more significant than love.

*

„Hey, hey, hey!" Hello cowboys! Did you miss us? We come back with big BANG! Our chief after reading our viewers' letters let us to return with Big Shot!"

"It's woooonderful". The blond girl jumped a couple of times and her short jacket almost revealed that, what should be concealed.

"So, who are we hunting today?" black man in cowboy's clothes asked himself and touched his cowboy hat. "Gary Collins, former doctor of medicine dangerous criminal and organ dealer. Yuck! He assails people, gives them sleep drugs, cut out their organs and then he leaves them…"

At the screen appeared a little unclear photo of tawny man with a week's beard and a bit grey hair. His eyes were showing aggression, anger and craftiness.

"It's so horrible! To wake up in the morning and realize that you don't have a kidney…" blonde shook her hair. She blinked blusteringly to operator. "What about the price, the price?"

"Ten millions of woolongs! Lucky find for you cowboys!"

Faye switched off the TV and inhaled smoke of a cigarette with a pleasure. She stood up stretching her limbs and looked into the kitchen.

"What are you cooking again?" she asked Jet, who stood above the cooker for about an hour, trying to cook something which components Faye couldn't guess.

"You'll see. Something new?"

"Organ dealer. Ten millions"

"Much" he replied laconic. Faye nonchalantly sat down the table and flicked the ash off her cigarette to the ash-tray. They were definitely out of money. For a rather long time Jet was curing his hurt leg, they hadn't been taking any tasks. Now, after two months, Jet was practically in good health. Faye tried to hint at they could try to catch some criminal. They hadn't money.

Jet for the last time mingled energetically the thing in the pot and closed the gas. A shadow of a smile became visible at his face. Faye noticed it by corner of the eye. Jet wasn't lately often smiling.

"It's done. And about that dealer, we can try. Soon we'll be out of cash. Where?"

"Probably somewhere on Mars. I'll search"

"I will. Good appetite" he said and left to main room.

*

Former doctor of medicine, Gary Collins didn't like the life. He didn't like life on Mars. He wished to fly on some asteroid. But there were things he had to do. He wanted to earn money for travel. Organ dealing maybe wasn't legal but profitable. So what, he had to lie the people? Harm them? Whatever. It was just them, who were chosen. Gary explained it to himself that people need organs. And there are no givers. So he was just choosing them. And that was what he was about.

Sometimes he was looking for laboratories, in which there were 'frozen' people. People in cryogenic sleep. They were easy booty for him and their organs were at premium.

In that kind of laboratory, what was strange, abandoned, he had found the girl. She had to be young when she had been frozen. She was quite pretty. Auburn, short hair. He didn't know what eyes she had. He didn't know what her name was. It seemed that all reports about her were lost; there was only small hiding-place in which there had to be her things.

She was really pretty. Gary wondered if she…

He decided to wake her.

*

Spike had been boring lately. It was more than two weeks when he left the hospital. He stayed on Mars. He didn't come back on Bebop, didn't want to bother Jet and Faye. They only had troubles because of him. But it was boring here. Here and there some Red Dragons survivors were appearing, but they all were passing him without a word. He ignored them. After all, what he was supposed to do?

A couple of times he heard in their whispers a name "Dragonkiller".

He didn't know who called for doctors and why. It was probably one of those Red Dragons' survivors, who came when Vicious was already dead. However he was thankful for that person.

He wanted to do something. He didn't want to think, to consider what happened. What turned out. He felt, that he couldn't bear that weight, weight of memories, guilty conscience, blood on hands.

He stopped in front of TV shop-window. The glass was covered with small drops of rain, which started just a moment earlier. There was the "Big Shot" show. They were looking for organ dealer. He stared at the screen for about couple of seconds.

It could be interesting.

*** 

(A/N: In this place, there would be the "Cowboy Bebop" screen, you know, middle of the session)

"Jet, I'm going" Faye said by the radio and flew up to the sky in her renovated Redtail.

"Be careful…" Jet muttered almost unhearing. He wasn't sure if Faye heard it.

Way to the Mars was rather short, because they were still on the orbit. But weather was quite bad. According to reliable information, Collins was probably in one of seedy districts of the city. Typical place for such kind of criminals. Faye sighed and landed. She took the gun from a locker and in spurts of rain she went to a bar, to get a word. In the meantime, Jet programmed the Bebop's main computer and flew away in his Hammerhead. He was to search in the laboratories. Apparently, it was there, where Collins was "supplying" lately, as well as he was removing the organs.

"D'you have something?" he asked Faye by the radio. Her voice was rather bored. He has already guessed the answer.

"No. I go back to searching"

*

Spike, after specific and detailed questioning couple of right people, localized hunted Gary Collins in one of the old, abandoned laboratories. It was a little surprising; in these empty laboratories there was no one and nothing, sometimes only some machines. Maybe he was doing surgeries there?

The laboratory was in one of worse city districts. He knew them very well – he was raised here. Walking down these dark, wet streets he was coming back to old years. Even the ones before he'd joined Red Dragons and met Vicious and Julia.

It's them, again. Still he was running into them in his thoughts. Fist, he wasn't bothered. Now, it was starting to be depressing.

*

Gary was surprised. The computer which was responsible for keeping vital actions of auburn-hair girl on also didn't have any information about her. Neither what was her name, nor when she has been frozen. The only note was that in 2022 she was taken on Mars. Before, she was probably on Earth. She must've been frozen for really long time. Fifty years at least.

Not, that she wasn't pretty because of that.

His skilful fingers quickly ran by the keyboard. The command has been entered and accepted. The capsule, in which the girl was closed, gave lots of fumes, and then, slowly, bit by bit, it opened.

Quickly and cleverly he prepared an injection for her. In his opinion, for the thing he wanted to use her, she had to be a little bit more conscious. And he wanted to see the colour of her eyes.

She opened eyes rapidly and took a deep breath. Then, she sat. She was looking around the room she was in with a lost look. Then, she glared at Gary. She muttered few words in some strange language, evidently she was asking him bout something. Collins didn't know the language. He was a doctor, not a polyglot.

Her eyes were green.

"Do you understand English?" he asked.

"Yes" she said after a moment of thinking, as she would have to remember the right word.

"What is your name?" He wanted to know that. Before he would rape her, he only wanted to know, what her name was.

The girl lowered dark head, touched forehead with a hand. She tossed slowly.

"I don't… remember" she replied after few seconds. She coughed rapidly and macabre. Amnesia. It was very rare, but possible after so many years of cryogenic sleep. However, this fact didn't have any importance for Gary Collins anymore.

*

The laboratory was most likely vacant. Weird. Jet has never liked doctors, yet there was a time, when he often needed their help. Like when he lost his arm. Although the synthetic one had of course sense receptors, still he felt the difference between this and the real one.

Or when he got the implants near the eye. And when this long scar on his face appeared.

That's the life of a detective.

Apparently, there was someone. In one of work rooms the light was on. And computers were working there as well. Jet hid behind the wall, got his Walther P99 out.

Once, he was doing such actions with Spike. It was old times for him now. But he didn't forget. He has never forgotten. It was two months now, since he left. Jet didn't want to admit it, but he didn't believe that Spike could survive. He and Faye have heard the rumours, that there was a horrible explosion on Mars, gang fights. There weren't many of these rumours. But they were.

_There were the times!…_

Jet smiled to himself. He heard some noises, Collins was questioning someone. There was a shot. Hunter breezed out form the corner and aimed strictly at Collins.

"No… it's not-not possible…" he mumbled.

That smile.

*

Faye was bored and very irritated. She find out nothing, expect that she had just beautiful eyes, what she's heard from definitely drunken, old man. And Jet didn't give any sign of living. As usual, he wanted to do everything by himself. Probably he'd already find Collins in some laboratory. And she was sitting here, doing nothing.

Still, she liked this kind of life. It was rather calm. She didn't have any bigger problems yet. The Bebop board was the place, she was feeling safe on.

By these two months, she did a lot of thinking about her life. The fact, that her memory came back, changed practically nothing. She was alone.

She corrected herself in thoughts. She wasn't alone. She was with Jet.

After Spike's departure on Mars, Faye had a mess in head. Even she didn't know, if the thing she'd felt for him, was love. She only knew that she damn cared about him. That she didn't want him just to go and get killed. But he went anyways.

Yes, she cried then. For a long time. Mess in head, this was all. She had to get rid of these emotions, find peace. And Jet helped her in it. She could have been expecting him not to want her anymore on Bebop. She too brought only troubles. But he has wait for her.

Not that there was something between them. Absolutely nothing.

Jet was hurt by Spike's disappearance. After all, he knew him longer. During these two months it happened to them to talk one or twice, long and truthfully. One can say that they were closer now. Bout it was friendship, nothing more.

*

Spike walked carefree to the laboratory. Probably Collins was there. It was too easy. He's hide behind the old computer. He wanted to wait for a better occasion and find if Collins had a gun.

He took a careful look. The dealer stood in front of capsule, in which there _was_ somebody. Deserted laboratory and someone still frozen in it? It was unbelievable… But possible. Spike found out, that long time ago, right after the Gate Incident patients from Earth were carried to this laboratory. They were first people in this deep cryogenic dream; many of them didn't survive the flight. Later, the laboratory got bust.

It seemed that someone had stayed.

_Enough waiting_.

He walked coolly from his den and aimed at Collins. The guy was leaning over just defrost girl.

"It's the end" he said calmly.

Collins looked at him. He was completely shocked.

"What, there's a reward for me?"

"Yeah, big one" Spike replied. Weird, the dealer wasn't trying to escape. 

"I wanted to end with this anyway. Bout you're not gonna get me that easy!"

The bullet was shot unknowingly, where from, hitting in the wall just centimeters from Spike. He did a quick dodge and ran to Collins. He attacked the hunter with fists. The girl screamed.

"Spike!"

Spike heard very familiar voice. Very familiar.

In a sec he felt strange weight on hears. Conscience.

_No, not now. I can't_

"Hi, Jet" he smiled tranquilly, putting those thoughts out of his mind and not stopping having an eye on Collins. He, however, attacked him again. He put out a knife. It was a split second. Moment later, he lied on the floor, knocked down. Spike turned to Jet. Jet switched his radio on.

"Faye, go back on the ship. Wait for me" he said and switched of the radio. He looked again at his friend. "Spike, you're alive!"

"As you can see"

"But… how?"

"Miracles happen"

Former doctor Garry Collins got up from the ground.

"Don't even move" Spike said, not even looking at him.

"Dream on" laughed authentically amused dealer. He looked at his old gun, which was on the floor, meters from him. He had only one chance. Only one. He jumped hastily there, grabbed the gun, caught forcefully the red-hair girl and aimed straight to her temple.

"I'll walk out with her" he hissed.

"Leave it" Jet muttered. Collins wasn't joking. The girl closed her eyes and winced.

"Let me go away!" dealer shouted. Jet and Spike stood still. Spiegel caught slow but clear move of index finger on the trigger. Bang.

"You've just killed ten millions" Jet snorted reproachfully, but Spike was staring at the auburn-hair girl. She was also glaring at him with blank look. Her green eyes, void of glimmer, were blurred. She was looking at him for a couple of seconds, although he had a feeling, she didn't see him at all. She murmured something, whispered some words in unknown language.

"Spike, come on" yelled Jet. Only someone, who knew him very well, could catch the look of worry on his face. Something was wrong in it.

The girl tottered raised her hands to head and fainted. Spike without a word walked to her and carried the girl to exit. They walked out with Jet from the laboratory. It hadn't stop raining at all. Spike walked towards his reddish Swordfish.

Jet has already known that Spiegel's coming back on Bebop. He was very happy because of this. Spike survived, it was amazing. He was like a cat. He died and reborn again, just like in the story he told him once. Even though Julia was dead.

"What will you do?" he asked impatient.

"She needs help"

"We're not a hospital. Nor social help" he murmured, although he knew that Spike already made the decision. In the meantime bounty hunter laid her in his Swordfish and blanketed her with his leather jacket, after that he turned around and looked at his older friend a bit witty. Just like the old times.

Jet only shrugged his shoulders.

*

The girl woke up. Her head was aching, in the back. She felt like she would be flying. She was right; she was lying curled in some space machine, like racer, blanketed with someone's black leather jacket. Belonging to a man.

She didn't remember when the doctors froze her, that there were some things like racers on Earth. And surely not just so common. Well, she didn't remember much at all. The best she could bring to mind were faces of doctors. There were just shattered, not telling anything pictures. 

And that strange, tall, tousled guy, who was piloting that racer. Why he too her with him? Maybe he knew who she was? And the one that they killed? The one, who this… Spike… called Collins?

The girl raised slowly her head and looked outsider the window. What she has seen, made her lose breath. She saw Earth. Earth from space. Small, blue orb, surrounded probably by satellites and meteorites. Where the hell was she? And, the most important, when?

Auburn-haired didn't know. She didn't remember anything. But she was very exhausted, so she returned to previous position and almost in the same moment, she fell asleep. Wherever the tousled guy was taking her, it couldn't get worse.

*

"What's up with her?" Jet asked carelessly, when they arrived on Bebop. Spike lightened a cigarette.

"She's asleep"

They entered the main room and switch on the light. Spike carefully put the red-haired girl on the couch. She didn't wake up. She moved her eyebrows, winced a bit, but her face became smooth. Spike smiled under his nose. Jet too. Then, just with no reason, the started laughing, quietly of course, not to wake the mysterious girl.

The weight didn't disappear, but lightened. Conscience, memories, blood on hands. Memory. Horrible thing.

Faye heard noises in the main room. She meddled in her pocket, grabbed out a metal lighter. She smoked a cig, willingly took a long drag.

"Jet, why you've told me to come back on the ship? Did something happen?…" she asked disapprovingly walking to the room, as clearly as she could with a cig in her mouth.

That smile.

The cigarette fell on the floor.

"Spike!…"

For a moment she just stood, gazing at him, couldn't move. Here eyes started to glimmer. Spike just walked up to her, picked up the cigarette and handed it her. The look of him! Just so…

"You… you fool…" she whispered, her mouth shivering, and then she just embraced him with all her strength.

Spike, surprised with this reaction, hugged her too. Jet coughed, they didn't know if it was the fume or something else.

*

The girl woke up rapidly. She had to have some weird dream. Pictures, faces of unfamiliar people. She didn't remember him. She probably saw the somewhere, but she couldn't remember anything.

She heard some voices. Those bounty hunters' voices. The two guys were somewhere near. She got up unhurriedly, wrapping herself up with the blanket they must have cover her, when she was asleep. There was one more voice, definitely feminine.

She walked up to smoky room, where the light was on. They were sitting, the three of them, by the table, talking. Smoking. The one with messy hair, in jeans and creased shirt, second one with synthetic arm, implants under eye and scar, in overall. And a woman, dark-haired, green-eyed, beautiful but grudgingly dressed girl.

Auburn-haired didn't know that they just decided she could stay with them on the ship. Until they find who she was. She couldn't be dangerous and was lost. Like once Faye.

When she entered, they looked at her.

"How do you feel" asked the tousled one.

"I don't know. There am I?" she asked slowly. She felt a bit sleepy yet.

"On my ship, the Bebop" the one with scar said.

Bebop. Nice name. It means something… but what?

"Which year do we have?"

They were surprised by the question. Each of them in other way.

"Two thousand seventy first"

_Which???_

"I… don't remember anything… just that they froze me…"

The dark-haired twitched. She stood up.

"I'm Faye. Faye Valentine" she said giving her a hand.

"And I'm Jet"

"And I'm…

"Spike" she finished shyly. She rubbed her forehead with hand. It was impossible. She slept… how many years did she sleep? "I don't even know what my name is…"

"We should call you some way" Spike said placidly "Think about some name"

She didn't say anything. Jet Black and Faye Valentine were gazing at her with such looks she wanted to ask them what they are looking at. Especially dark-haired Faye was piercing her with eyes.

"I don't know…" she said.

_Why I don't remember a thing?_

"The tousled" smiled. It was strange smile. Like the Cheshire cat.

_Where these thoughts came from?_

_…What is the Cheshire cat?_

"What do you say for Nelle?"

Nelle. Even nice name. She had to have some. It could be that, too.

"It's fine" she agreed. Small, shy smile appeared on her face. They couldn't be that bad. Probably. Even so, she felt great anxiety. Alone, with unfamiliar people, not remembering anything from the past, in year 2072.

Spike shook her hand.

"Welcome on a board, Nelle.

– Mo¿e byæ – zgodzi³a siê. Na jej twarzy zakwit³ lekki, nieœmia³y uœmiech. 

****

****

YOU'LL GONNA CARRY THAT WEIGHT…


End file.
